BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE curtains came down Saturday night (June 4) on the first ever St. Kitts Music Festival Local Promotions Committee’s DJ Clash at Carnival Village and saw Chalice Sounds being the successors.
When SKNVibes arrived at the venue only a few patrons were in attendance, but as the night grew older the number increased and the turnout was fairly large.
The event was originally scheduled for 8:00 p.m. but did not begin until some minutes before 11:00 p.m. when the four sounds – Chalice, Freedom, Black Stone and Vigilante - picked their numbers for order of appearance.
In the first round, each Sound was given 10 minutes in which they mixed a number of tracks and had to include a music festival dub.
Chalice Sounds were the first in line. They started out with the death announcement of the other DJs, followed by a remix to Nicha B’s ‘White Sheet’ and a number of other R&B and dancehall hits.
They were followed by Vigilante Sounds, which kicked off with Sam Cooke’s ‘Born By The River’. They kept their 10-minute performance conscious and old school.
Freedom Sounds was next and they began their performance by blessing the place to the sounds of Bob Marley, which was topped off with a number of dancehall hits.
The first round ended with selections from the Black Stone Sounds out of Nevis. They too started the ball rolling with some conscious reggae before they got the crowd going in full gear.
A number of sideshow performances then took to the stage along with the Music Festival Girls and music selections by Unstoppable Sound to keep patrons entertained.
That was followed by the judging of the first round which was determined by applauses from the crowd. This segment of the competition ended with the elimination of Black Stone Sounds and Vigilante Sounds while the other two sounds were preparing for the ‘tune for tune’ battle.
The ‘tune for tune’ battle was also judged by the audience, which ended with Chalice Sounds winning four of the seven rounds.
Speaking with the winners shortly after their success, Duane ‘Fire’ McSheen told SKNVibes that it was a great joy coming out on top. He said it was a mission accomplished after being in the business for some five years.
Fire added that he would like to give thanks to Almighty God for allowing them to take part in the competition as well as their many fans all over.
The DJ Clash was held in three parts; the first was at Pon De Edge on May 13 while the second event was held on May 21 at De Green Valley Pub which resulted in the elimination of Black Pantha Sounds.
The winners will be allowed a 20-30 minute spot to shine at the 15th Annual St. Kitts Music Festival, a trophy, one season pass, two season tickets and also a monetary prize of EC$2500.
